MEPs hold out against ‘too weak’ CAP reform

Negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy were in disorder this week, putting a resolution next week in doubt.

The Irish government, holder of the presidency of the Council of Ministers, has been aiming for an agreement at next week’s meeting of farm ministers in Luxembourg (24-25 June). Negotiations between MEPs and representatives of the member states continued each day this week, but sources involved in the discussions say they are nowhere near a conclusion.

“For direct payments, [MEPs] are in no way ready to go to Luxembourg to make deals”, said a source involved in the discussions. He said if MEPs go to the Council next week without clear consensus on all sides on the main outstanding issues. The Parliament’s position “risks unravelling and the whole thing being overcomplicated with overlapping derogations”.?

The tone of the talks was increasingly frenetic, participants told European Voice. New ideas are being thrown into negotiations, said one source, just days before a final agreement is meant to be reached.

On Tuesday (18 June), Italian centre-left MEP Paolo de Castro, who is leading negotiations on behalf of the Parliament, said that MEPs will refuse to attend next week’s talks unless progress is made. He said he will decide on whether to attend the Council by the end of today (20 June), the last day of trilogue talks before the Council begins on Monday.

Members of the ALDE, ECR and Green groups – mostly from northern Europe – fear that if MEPs go to Luxembourg next week before reaching consensus with member states, they will be railroaded into accepting a bad deal.

De Castro added that even if they do attend the Council, the delegation of MEPs will not agree to anything officially.

He said a decision to accept or reject a deal with member states would be taken only at a meeting of the agriculture committee’s co-ordinators from the various political groups. That would be held in Brussels on Wednesday (26 June). “It is only then that we will know whether there is or isn’t a political agreement,” he said.

The main two areas of disagreement between the Council and the Parliament are greening measures and convergence of payments. Under the Commission’s proposal to reform the policy for the 2014-20 period, 30% of subsidies would be tied to fulfilment of environmental criteria. One of those criteria, setting aside arable land for biodiversity purposes, has provd particularly controversial.

There is still disagreement over how much land would have to be set aside and whether farms could receive weighted ‘bonus points’ for such measures as planting trees.

The Irish presidency has warned that if no deal is reached by the end of this month, implementation of the reform of the CAP may be delayed. The Lithuanian government, which takes over the rotating Council presidency on 1 July, is said to lack the resources to take on what is a massive dossier.

CAP talks have been further complicated by lack of an agreement on the long-term EU budget for 2014-20.